Bollywood film not exactly my idea of screen debut: Graeme Smith

Johannesburg, Feb 8 (IANS) Being repeatedly hit for a six by actor Harman Baweja in the film ‘Victory’ was not exactly his idea of a debut in the movies, South African cricket captain Graeme Smith said here as the movie continues to draw crowds to the box office in its third week. Smith is one of about 40 leading international cricket players who appear in “Victory”, most of them suffering defeat at the hands of the character played by Harman - that of India’s latest cricket star.

“We spent the greater part of the day (while filming) with this guy (Harman) who kept hitting our deliveries to every corner of SuperSport Park,” Smith told the Afrikaans weekly Rapport here Sunday.

“It’s not exactly how I imagined my debut in the movie industry, but maybe there is a chance for a career in front of the cameras one day when I’ve ended my cricket career,” jested Smith, currently recovering from an injury that saw him having to opt out of the final games in the Australian tour recently in which the hosts were beaten in both test and one-day series.

“I’m not expecting any Oscar nominations any time soon, but those who are in the know say that I have potential,” he added.

Smith and the Morkel brothers, Morne and Albie, were asked to participate last year in the filming of “Victory” at SuperSport Park in Centurion, north of here.

“We realise that there is nothing bigger in India than cricket and Bollywood, and to get involved in a Bollywood film about cricket was therefore a great fun,” Smith told the weekly.

“In the movie, India plays against most of the international countries and those that we (South Africans) are in, is the South African leg of India’s games.”

Describing the film, Smith said “Victory” related the tale of a talented Indian cricketer carrying the hopes of a nation on his shoulders.

“But he loses the plot along the way as he wrestles with how to handle the pressures and expectations of international cricket,” Smith said.